| Lionheart | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Sheldon Lettich |
| Produced by | Eric Karson Ash R. Shah Anders P. Jensen Executive Producer |
| Written by | S.N. Warren Jean-Claude Van Damme Sheldon Lettich |
| Starring | Jean-Claude Van Damme Harrison Page Deborah Rennard Brian Thompson Lisa Pelikan Ashley Johnson Ash Adams Michel Qissi Abdul Qissi |
| Music by | John Scott |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | January 11, 1991 USA 1 August 1990 France |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,000,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $24,078,196 |
Lionheart (also known as Wrong Bet, A.W.O.L.: Absent Without Leave) is a 1990 film, directed by Sheldon Lettich, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and co-starring Brian Thompson. Along with Harrison Page, Deborah Rennard, Brian Thompson, Lisa Pelikan, Ashley Johnson.
The film stars Van Damme as a paratrooper legionnaire; when his brother is seriously injured he returns to Los Angeles to enter the underground fighting circuit to raise money for his brother's family.
Arguably one of the more essential Van Damme films in the view of fans, the film's cast and crew included two people that had appeared in an earlier Van Damme film: Michel Qissi (a good friend of his) and Sheldon Lettich. This was the second time Qissi played a villain in a Van Damme film, the first being notably as Tong Po in Kickboxer (1989). Lettich helped write one of Van Damme's breakthrough films, Bloodsport, along with another Van Damme film, Double Impact.
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Van Damme plays Lyon Gaultier, a paratrooper in the French Foreign Legion stationed in Djibouti, North Africa. His brother, who is married to an American woman, is burned alive by the members of a drug squad in a drug deal gone wrong and suffers third-degree burns, and dies shortly thereafter. Lyon deserts his legion when they would not let him leave to see his brother by attacking fellow Legionnaires, commandeering a jeep, escaping through the desert and working on a tramp steamer in an effort to flee to the U.S. to help the family of his murdered brother. Meanwhile, the Legion commanding officer arrives at the French Embassy to the United States, where he is told that the LAPD could not care less about hunting down Lyon, to which he orders two Legionnaires to find Lyon. He arrives in New York and needs to travel to California to be with his brother's family. Along the way, he meets Joshua, a man who runs fights for money, and also learns that his brother's murderers have been arrested and convicted. Tagging along with Joshua, Lyon meets Cynthia, who also specializes in the same thing. Figuring that this would be the best way to earn the money his family needs, Lyon fights in no holds barred bare-knuckle fights to finance the trip. Once they reach to L.A., he tracks down his brother's widow, who is reluctant at first to accept any sort of financial help even though it is apparent that she needs it, mostly because she is angry with him since she feels that he deserted his brother years ago. Lyon then decides to start fighting to help his sister-in-law and his niece and Joshua would act as an insurance man who delivers checks to her frequently.
Meanwhile, agents of the Foreign Legion have caught up with him in Los Angeles, and they are now trying to apprehend him once more. Lyon does not want any part of it, and a fight ensues. After a struggle, he manages to escape, but with a broken rib. It is also learned that Cynthia, Lyon's sponsor, has been seeking to take advantage of Lyon's string of victories by stacking the odds in favor of a hugely tough fighter named "Attilla the Hun", to which she will use Leon by betting a large amount on "Attilla", and makes an arrangement with the Legion soldiers that she will hand him over to them after he has been defeated thoroughly. Leon has his final fight with Atilla, but though he is hampered by his broken rib. The snag with Attilla is (as is unknown to Lionheart) that his trademark move following every win is to "kill" his opponent. After an intense fight where it appears "Attilla" has won, Joshua reveals during a time-out that they both were being used. Joshua also reveals that for the best of reasons (Lionheart's family), he has placed all of his own money on Attilla as a form of "insurance". Lyon, angered by this news, bounces back and summons up all his remaining strength to defeat Atilla. Two members of the Foreign Legion are in attendance though, and they escort him back to the apartment, where they give him some time to wash up before being deported back to Africa, where he will be court martialed for desertion. After an emotional good-bye, Lyon and the Legion members speed off. Just down the road, moved by the family's heartbreak, they decide to lie to the Foreign Legion command by making it appear that they failed in their mission to recapture Lyon, and they let him go out of respect for his determination, will power, and personal integrity, both during the fight and helping out his sister-in-law all this time. Ecstatic, Lyon returns to the apartment, where his sister-in-law, niece, and Joshua are all both surprised and thankful that he has come back.
The critical reception for the film was mixed, but was responded to negatively by most critics.[1] [2] [3] [4]
On the aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes it currently holds a 33%. based on 12 reviews, only 4 critics gave the film a positive review(with only two positive review from a top critic. On the liked it it got a 54%.[5]
Lionheart performed rather well at the box office.[6] Ranging from $24,078,196, with a budget of $6,000,000. Along with the following grosses in other countries:$24,078,196 (USA) £283,848 (UK) (19 October 1990) €2,745,637 (Germany) (22 November 1990) €658,874 (Spain)